Protesters rally against Cherokee teacher who targeted Trump T-shirts

A group of about 35 protesters gathered Wednesday to urge the firing of a Cherokee County high school teacher despite warnings from the superintendent and the marshals office to stay off the River Ridge campus.

Williams’ campaign saw a political opportunity in math teacher Lyn Orletsky’s request that two students wearing “Make America Great Again” T-shirts turn them inside out in the wake of the violent Charlottesville rally.

A video of the math teacher’s comparison of the slogan to a swastika went viral after a student shared it with a conservative news site earlier this month. Orletsky was placed on paid administrative leave, she told The AJC.

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Kevin Wright of Canton arrived at the Dupree Park meeting spot but declined a ride in Williams’ shuttle. He decided to walk the roughly 2 miles because he hasn’t yet chosen a candidate for governor and doesn’t want his appearance Wednesday associated with Williams' campaign.

Wright came to exercise his First Amendment rights.

"Folks have a right to make their feelings known," he said.

While he thinks Orletsky crossed a line, he's happy with the school district's response.

"This is bigger than the Cherokee County School District and bigger than Georgia," Wright said.

The Army veteran moved to Cherokee County 2½ years ago after retiring. He spent 24 years serving in the military and believes his presence at River Ridge is a continuance of that service.

Protesters are calling for the teacher to be fired. ELLEN ELDRIDGE / ELLEN.ELDRIDGE@AJC.COM

Cherokee County Schools spokeswoman Barbara Jacoby told Williams that the campus was off-limits for his protest, warning it would “significantly disrupt teaching and learning and may endanger the safety of more than 3,200 students and staff.”

Bettina Davies, an education lawyer representing Orletsky, told The AJC that Orletsky couldn’t be fired on the timeline Williams wants.

“People at the local school, such as the principal, aren’t the ones who make the decision,” Davies said. “It’s done at the school board level.”

Davies said after the superintendent makes a recommendation to the school board, they’ll vote, but, “investigations can take months depending on the complexity of the case.”

Geraldine Wade is angry that a teacher would oppose a student wearing a T-shirt in support of the current president. She said, "Trump's my guy" and joked that the protest was like another rally on the campaign trail.

Wade said she equates the issue with Orletsky to similar free speech issues such as kneeling during the national anthem and disrespecting the flag.

"If you're offended by the president, you need to go somewhere else," she said.

Student Macy White, a junior, said she was cutting school for the protest.

On the other side of the protest, Molly Ball said her sixth-grader and eighth-grader were afraid to go to school today. She wanted people to take the protest off school grounds and proceeded to curse at protesters. She said they instead should be worried about the devastation in Puerto Rico or other important issues.